Chicago to Build $3 Billion Coal Gasification Plant

The Chicago Clean Energy project is a gasification plant which will produce synthetic natural gas from coal and petroleum coke. The facility will cost about $3 billion and is estimated to create more than $10 billion in economic output for the state of Illinois, 2,000 new jobs, and $1.25 billion in tax revenues.

The natural gas produced will equate to about five percent of Illinois’ annual demand, and provide a fuel source to be used in power plants which is 99 percent cleaner than that used in conventional power plants.

The project will also include a carbon capture system intended to trap 85 percent of the carbon dioxide produced during the gasification process; making it one of the cleanest facilities in the world.

By producing natural gas locally, Chicago energy consumers are expected to save more than $1 billion over the next 30 years.

How do we, the taxpayer, get this stopped. Natural gas is so abundant that existing supplys exceed demand to the point of forcing the price down and damping interest in further drilling.

Stan B on August 08 2012 said:

Stupid Question : WHEN was the "projected savings" calculation done - before or after the great natural gas price collapse of 2012?

I suspect before, and that this plant will end up being a white elephant for the tax payers while enriching a few well-placed industrialist speculators who are right now hoping nobody reviews their numbers in light of the current natural gas glut which is projected to continue for the foreseeable future....